Here’s a roundup of the most important deals in venture capital in the last week.
Alphabet invested $375 million in Oscar Health, a six-year-old health insurance start-up co-founded by Joshua Kushner. The investment comes just a few months after two other subsidiaries of Alphabet — another investment arm, Capital G, and life sciences division Verily — participated in a $165 million round that sources said valued Oscar at $3.2 billion. Alphabet now reportedly owns roughly 10 percent of the start-up, which has created a technology platform to better process insurance claims.
DoorDash, the food delivery business, has raised $250 million and notched a $4 billion valuation. Its latest round — announced Thursday and led by tech investment firms Coatue Management and DST Global — came five months after the San Francisco-based start-up raised $535 million in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund. The company competes with GrubHub, Uber Eats and Postmates.
Chinese aerospace start-up OneSpace Technology raised $43.6 million in a series B round of funding, SpaceNews.com reports. The company intends to complete its first orbital launch by the end of this year and to eventually serve space industry customers that SpaceX does not. Investors included CICC Jiatai Equity Fund, FinTrek Capital and China Merchants Venture Capital. The company has raised a total of $116 million.
Sila Nanotechnologies, a materials science and manufacturing start-up, raised $70 million to develop advanced batteries for use in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, health devices and industrial equipment. Sutter Hill Ventures led the investment and was joined by Siemens-backed venture firm Next47 and Amperex Technology.
Blueberry Therapeutics raised around $12.7 million to develop nano-medicines that treat skin and nail infections more effectively than current options. Investors included China Medical Venture Investment and A&B Company, a health-tech manufacturer based in Hong Kong.
Matrix Partners India closed a $300 million fund to invest in fast-growing start-ups in India. Co-founder and managing director Avnish Bajaj previously ran eBay’s business in India before starting Matrix’s India fund in 2006. The fund has backed some of India’s tech and consumer breakouts including ride-hailing giant Ola.
OpenSpace Ventures, which invests in very early stage tech companies based in Southeast Asia, closed its second fund at around $135 million. The fund is best known as an early backer of Go-Jek, a provider or motorcycle transportation and courier services throughout Indonesia.
645 Ventures in New York closed a $40 million fund, the firm’s second. Co-founders and general partners Aaron Holiday and Nnamdi Okike said in a blog post that they intend to invest in a mix of enterprise tech and consumer tech companies, including online marketplaces. 645 previously invested in MM La Fleur, Voodoo Manufacturing.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.